I'm going to cover the 1995-2001 era through responding to some quotes below. I was just starting to participate in the mating environment in the late 1990s. I asked out my first woman in Fall 1999 as a 16 year old high school junior, finished high school in Spring 2001 and started college in Fall 2001. My participation in that era was limited to high school and the first semester of college, so there wasn't a lot of adult dating for me in that era, except for that first semester of college. College freshmen also don't have a lot of sexual options either. On a college campus, freshman males can date freshman female but freshman females are in high demand from not only freshman males, but also the sophomore-senior males.
No. Back in 1998, most attractive women were not on AOL. Also, real life approaches were far more common back then, so attractive women still got lots of attention, just in a different way. If anything, the internet allowed average women to feel like they are showered with attention. Women who would have been invisible in the 90's now have harems filled with "followers".
I lived back in that time period. I don't think it was any easier. The hottest girls are always in high demand. Women were more selective then. Society expected them to behave better. Now its somewhat ok to be a wh0re.
The problem is the constant validation and attention all women receive in todays world.
Yes, the hottest women are always in demand. It wasn't easy to land a 9-10 woman in 1995-2001. 9-10s don't need to use swipe apps for dates now, but they are receiving follow requests and DMs on Instagram, which wasn't happening in 1995-2001. If they are active on LinkedIn, they are also getting DM'ed on LinkedIn, usually by pathetic men. That is upping the attention and validation factor for top women.
The main difference between 2010-present and 1995-2001 is the attention that the 4.5-7.5 range women receive. In 2000, a 30 year old "6" would have received much interest than a 30 year old "6" receives today. Competition has most increased in the middle to upper middle class of women due to the combination of swipe apps and social media. Dating websites were around in 1995-2001 but had yet to be de-stigmatized.
A lot of men now simply aren't choosing to approach because they perceive a convenience factor in sitting at home, swiping, and texting. In 1995-2001, sitting at home and sending messages on Match wasn't all that useful either because online dating had yet to be de-stigmatized. AOL Instant Messenger wasn't that great for getting laid either. It was essentially impossible to send random instant messages and get laid. You could get the AOL IM handle of someone in the way you could get a Snapchat or Instagram off of an in-person approach, but that was a bit of a time waster too.
Proximity is the key to actually having success with most women. That is still a huge factor but women having access to the entire world of men on their phones definitely complicates things and not only for the 9 and 10s of the world. Every 5 out there has a dozen or more guys sending them DMs constantly as well. Competition is fierce and many men have given up as a result.
Yes, exactly true as illustrated above.
Well after a generation raised of porn, I would say the only thing that has change in the recipe is men are alot more lustful and thirsty.
This ingredient has changed the end product for the worse. It has average woman believing they are better then they are and created lustfull men desperate for any kind of piece of as$. Men are dating women with tattoos, who are overweight and crazy, and will openly cheat on them and are know ho3s.
I would say it was easier to get 9 or 10 (hot woman) back then only because their was more of them. I wasn't dating back in 90s but from what little I know I could say maybe 60% of woman where 6 and above. Today dating is full of 15% 1-3, 60% 4-6 another 20% 7-8 and 5% 9and10s.
It's a vicious cycle. Men aren't getting laid off of swipe apps or stranger approaches in a lot of cases. They are still horny, so they end up turning to porn and bad stuff happens.
Male thirst (the real pandemic) is leading to men dropping standards in order to get laid.
That leaves maybe 30% of woman to reasonably pursue and the average man is left with scraps.
Wheat Waffles once asserted that a male 7/10 has the same SMV as a female 3/10 on a swipe app.
Real world might produce better results for men in the 5-7 range, but getting a looks equivalent woman in real life dating is getting more and more challenging for many men.